Bushey Heath, Chinese, Dim Sum Restaurant Guide

“Sunday dim sum lunch is always full of happy families” at this popular Cantonese group with 1980s-nightclub decor – an occasion for which they “cannot be beaten” for many diners: so “arrive around 10:45 to join queue for 11am opening”. With the closure of its Bayswater branch a few years ago, Baker Street and Canary Wharf are its preeminent spots (and SW6 can be “disappointing” by comparison). All feedback is about the lunchtime service – “the evening offering is a bit ordinary”.

“The Oriental food hall of your dreams” – this gastro-warehouse in Colindale offers a vast choice. “The quality ranges extremely widely between the various stalls”, but choose carefully and you’ll be well fed.

“The venerable kingpin of Chinese food in this part of west London is not giving up its crown easily” – opened by the Lou family in the outer reaches of Acton in 1976, it has served “exceptionally tasty Peking-style cuisine” with “considerate service and warm atmosphere” for almost 50 years.

“Some of the best dim sum in London” and “outstanding, delicious Peking duck” is an unexpected find in this anonymous modern hotel dining room overlooking trafficky Shepherd’s Bush Green. It’s “good enough to impress visitors from the Far East” and has built a sufficiently strong reputation in its 10 years to be extremely busy at times.

“Authentic and sensibly priced dim sum, a cut or two above the quality of many traditional Soho joints” (and with “some stand out dishes”) has carved a good reputation for this Cantonese basement, below the shiny new towers of Paddington Basin. (Its ratings, though, are not as high as once they were; and one or two reporters feel “it still hasn’t fully recovered its shine post pandemic”).

This “reliable old-school Chinese” near Baker Street tube is “great for big family lunches” – with its sheer scale, traditional décor and eight menus, “one could be in Hong Kong of old”. It’s also “pretty good value for money” for its address.

“Fabulous Peking Duck and dim sum comes with one of the best views of any restaurant in London” at this luxurious Chinese venue, which continues to break the normal rules applying to anywhere with a decent outlook. On the top of a five-star hotel overlooking Kensington Gardens and Palace, it’s “very popular and deservedly so”: service is “spot-on” and it’s “just lovely”.

A “big Chinese restaurant” – the London outpost of a Shanghai group – which serves Cantonese fare that’s “really good and not too pricey”. It occupies part of an office block near Portman Square in Marylebone – a setting that “can seem a bit sterile”.

“Sunday dim sum lunch is always full of happy families” at this popular Cantonese group with 1980s-nightclub decor – an occasion for which they “cannot be beaten” for many diners: so “arrive around 10:45 to join queue for 11am opening”. With the closure of its Bayswater branch a few years ago, Baker Street and Canary Wharf are its preeminent spots (and SW6 can be “disappointing” by comparison). All feedback is about the lunchtime service – “the evening offering is a bit ordinary”.

“Best dim sum I’ve had in a long time – everything was best-in-class”: reporters are unanimous in their praise for the “always great” Cantonese cooking at the Marylebone flagship of the Royal China group. But there’s some pushback against the prices: “eye-wateringly expensive, compared to the standard competition, if comparable to their Hakkasan/Yauatcha-peers”.

2021 Review: Between Selfridges and St Christopher’s Place – a “busy and quite noisy” haunt, where some reporters are very impressed by its Pan-Asian small plates (including sushi and dim sum dishes), but others feel that they’re “not exciting, but OK”.

“Best Asian restaurant I’ve eaten in!” – these “beautiful” nightclubby haunts (“quite why they keep them so dark is beyond me”) have maintained an impressive standard for over 20 years, and the Tottenham Court original has since been replicated not just in Mayfair but in numerous cities around the globe. Their ratings have fluctuated over many years, always around the same concerns – “success has got the better of them…”; “chaotic” and/or “attitude-y” service; punishing prices. The believers still carry the day, though, saying they are “always a special experience” with a “delectable” mix of dim sum, Peking duck (with or without caviar) and other classic Chinese dishes – “definitely take a big wallet, but I love it!”

This tiny café whose menu is summed up in its name is one of the capital’s champion cheap eats, with “stunning” Cantonese cuisine. “Just a shame it’s not bigger as the queuing time and outdoor seating on the grimy King’s Cross Road isn’t ideal”. The only solution is to go early or in the afternoon.

“Best Asian restaurant I’ve eaten in!” – these “beautiful” nightclubby haunts (“quite why they keep them so dark is beyond me”) have maintained an impressive standard for over 20 years, and the Tottenham Court original has since been replicated not just in Mayfair but in numerous cities around the globe. Their ratings have fluctuated over many years, always around the same concerns – “success has got the better of them…”; “chaotic” and/or “attitude-y” service; punishing prices. The believers still carry the day, though, saying they are “always a special experience” with a “delectable” mix of dim sum, Peking duck (with or without caviar) and other classic Chinese dishes – “definitely take a big wallet, but I love it!”

An “extravagant setting” is central to the approach of this showy Chinese venue in Mayfair, whose website promises ‘the ultimate Asian restaurant’ and a ‘world of hedonism’ including ‘devilishly curious entertainment’ (such as burlesque). Its “excruciating prices” have always been an issue, but the view that the food (from a very wide-ranging menu, including dim sum, caviar, steak, noodles…) is “nothing special” gained ground this year, as did the concern that “I just didn’t enjoy the experience” – “the shows are at least a distraction from what is a pretty lacklustre meal...”

“Cheung fun… just wow” – a highlight of the “brilliant” dim sum at this cool modern take on Cantonese cuisine, created by Alan Yau, the restaurant whizz behind Hakkasan and Wagamama. Now in its 20th anniversary year, there are two sites in the capital – a Soho basement (with ground-floor tea room) and a very much bigger and glossier venue in the City’s Broadgate development (plus satellites in the Middle East and India). But even fans of the “delicious food” sometimes say, “I like it here, but the bill always surprises me… not in a good way!”

Thin feedback this year on this glossy Eurotrash playground in Mayfair – London outpost of Arkady Novikov’s large restaurant empire (fun fact – according to Forbes in Nov 2022, this includes what used to be the Krispy Kreme Russian franchise, rebranded post-sanctions as ‘Krunchy Dream’). Its sushi, seared seafood and other luxe Pan-Asian bites remain well-rated, if at prices designed for oligarchs. (There’s also an imposing, ambitious dining room with an Italian menu to the rear that no-one mentions much).

An international Taiwanese-based chain with a trio of UK outlets in Covent Garden, Selfridges and most recently Centre Point (“with a great view”). To well-travelled connoisseurs of the original, they are “more upmarket here and more expensive too” (“I lived in Asia for several years and ate at a DTF at least weekly, but here they’ve jacked the prices up to a level that is taking the p***”). But to the uninitiated, they can seem like “the best ever dumplings”, and – Top Menu Tip – even their sternest critics say “don’t ignore the Xian Long Bao” (soup dumplings).

Northern Chinese fare including “authentic and tasty dumplings and noodles” make either of Wei Shao’s duo (Borough Market and Soho) “a great standby for a quick and fun meal”. “A Chinese that’s worth a visit for an evening bite and not just for dim sum – and which doesn’t break the bank – is a rare find in London.”